Instructions for authors

Valid for all submissions following March 14, 2016.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Peer-reviewed scientific journal of Mendel University in Brno Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis publishes original scientific research papers and reviews in the area of accredited fields of the university. The length of contributions usually does not exceed 15 pages, including tables, pictures and graphs. The content of manuscripts is factual, their length does not exceed their content. If the nature of a paper allows it, achieved results are statistically evaluated.

Contributions are published only in English.

Authenticity, originality and quality of contributions, as well as the correction of the English text, is the responsibility of the authors. Contributions with insufficient quality of language will not be accepted for publication.

The scholarly quality of manuscripts is assessed by two external experts.

SCOPE

Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis publishes full length papers, short communications and reviews on biological, technical, socio-economical sciences and in arts in accordance with the guiding principles established by Editorial Board. Papers should be intelligible to a broad scientific audience.

PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPT

TITLE PAGETitle – Title should be concise, precise, factual, has to describe the main topic in the most precise way. It cannot include abbreviations, except the most general ones, e.g. DNA.

Name – State the names of all co-authors, without titles (e.g. Jan Novák).

Affiliation address – Below the author names please state full addresses of all co-authors in English (including e-mail). Please note that instead of faculty or department address the official address of the seat of the university is required. E.g.: Alois Novák, Department of Applied and Landscape Ecology, Faculty of AgriSciences, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic, e-mail: novak@mendelu.cz.

Abstract – Factual outline of the topic, used methods, summary of results and overall conclusions and recommendations (10-15 lines of texts). Abstract cannot contain anything which is not a part of the actual text.

Keywords – A set of keywords should be comprehensive, but concise, typically 7-10 words or phrases. Initial letters of keywords are written in lower-case.

MAIN TEXTIntroduction – Introduction should provide wider context, substantiation of the need of writing and publishing the paper, its goal.

Materials and Methods – In the interest of reproducibility, please provide a concise description of research material and used scientific methods. If these are not original methods, give reference to the paper where this method was originally published.

Results – Results section should contain evaluation and exact description of achieved results. If the nature of a paper allows it, state the statistical significance of the results as well.

Discussion – In discussion, please provide a confrontation of the achieved results with previously published papers, author’s opinion of established differences, his/her attitude to the results. The discussion section also provides a space to outline the need of further potential solution or importance for the development of science, society or practice.

Conclusion – This section should provide a concise summary of the most important findings in relation to the goals set. Please state only facts here, polemic is reserved for the Discussion section.

Acknowledgements – An acknowledgement is necessary when the realization of the paper was supported by a grant agency or other external resources. Always state the full name of the organization which provided funding for the project and its number in square brackets. E.g. This paper was supported by Grant Agency [nr. 1234567890].

References – Provide in-text citations using the following style Name Author (year of publication). In the final list of references, format citations using the Harvard style. Arrange the citations in alphabetical order, based on the first author’s name, without numbering. The reference list must contain citations of all used sources and cannot contain citations of sources which were not actually used.Please note that all non-English document titles must be translated into English with the original title stated afterwards in brackets [].E.g.:DEJMAL, A. 2004. Methodology of scanning and measuring the prong test samples [in Czech: Metodika snímání a měření vzorků vidličkové zkoušky kvality dřeva]. Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun., 52(5): 83–90.

Harvard referencing style – examples:

Monograph: SURNAME, INITIALS. Year of publication. Title. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher.

SATTLER, M.A. 2007. Education for a more sustainable architecture. In: Sun, wind and architecture: proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture. National University of Singapore, 22–24 November. Singapore: Department of Architecture, National University of Singapore, 844–851.

Website: SURNAME, INITIALS (can be the name of copyright owner). Year of publication/copyright. Name of the webpage. [Online]. Available at: URL. [Accessed: date of access].

FORMATTING AND EDITING OF MANUSCRIPTSThe raw text is accepted in the following formats: .doc, .docx and .rtf. Please provide two complete files including all appendices (pictures, graphs, tables) in .doc and .pdf format. Images should be provided also as separate files in print-ready resolution (300 dpi).

Use line numbering in the main document. In order to add line numbers in Microsoft Word go to the Page Layout tab, in the Page Setup group, click Line Numbers; to number consecutively throughout the document, click Continuous.

Font – The whole text must be written using the same font (e.g. Times New Roman), size 12. In order to distinguish the headings from the body text, use size or typeface (bold, italics), not colour or underlining. It is possible to use at most 3 levels of headings (main chapter, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Summary, Acknowledgements, References + 2 sublevels).

Further formatting – Submit the manuscript with as little text formatting as possible. DO NOT use numbering of chapters, too many indentations of paragraphs, manual page and line breaks, header, footer, page numbers etc. Please note that we use two-column typesetting, which may influence bullet points, the order of images, tables etc.

Pictures, graphs and tables – Pictures, graphs and tables should be included in the main text. Every picture, graph and table must have a description of content and source.
Pictures and graphs are named Figure (Fig.) with a number, tables are marked as Table (Tab.) and numbered using Roman numerals.

All mathematical expressions in the text must be inserted as editable plain text.

E.g.:

m = 1,k ≤ 0,a1 + b1 + c1 + d1 = 0,
2(p + 1) k = 1, 2, …, n

Fractions, integrals, braces, sums with upper and lower limits etc. must be inserted as equations (text) or provided in the form of an image in sufficient resolution. E.g.:

Please note: always use a dot (.) as a decimal point, instead of a comma (,). Use commas to separate thousands. E.g. π = 3.14159. One million six hundred thousand = 1,600,000.

The text, as well as all attachments, must be submitted in their entirety and final form. The publisher is not responsible for any content modifications of the text, graphs, tables or mathematical expressions.

SUBMISSIONS AND PUBLICATION

We accept new submissions only through our online content management system onhttp://actavia.mendelu.cz. An authorial account can be created for you by the editorial office or you can register directly using the link in the upper right corner.

a covering letter - including the names, affiliation, addresses and e-mails of 3 independent specialists as potential reviewers of the paper; download the template for the covering letterhere.

the manuscript file in editable format (.doc, .docx);

the manuscript file - complete with all figures and tables - in .pdf format.

The scientific quality of papers is assessed by two independent reviewers. Papers that do not meet the requirements of original scientific research paper (or review) or do not meet the thematic focus of the journal will not be accepted.

After the reviews are finished the author will be invited to comment on each suggested change in the manuscript and provide a point by point description of why they have or have not been accepted.

Before publication the author will receive a print-ready .pdf version of his paper for approval.
At this time no further content changes in the text or appendices can be accepted.

The final decision on publication of papers lies with the editorial board. The editorial board reserves the right to reject a paper or include it in a later journal issue.

The abovementioned instructions for authors are mandatory. Noncompliance with the guidelines can be grounds for rejection.